15 Ways to Get Past Writers Block

Ways to spark an idea

Even the greatest of writers encounter writers block once in a while. Trying to come up inspiration for an article can sometimes be difficult. I’ve found these 15 ideas are great to help spark up the creativity and help you find that inspiration you have been looking for.

1. Go for a walk or a drive - Take in your surroundings, the trees, the cars, birds, and peacefulness or even how crazy and hectic it is. I’m sure if you pay attention to what is going on there will be something that sets of an idea. This might be something that is obvious or something that sent you on a thoughts path after seeing something else.

2. Re-read through your articles – Sometimes one of the best things to do is go back through your articles archive. There may be something there that you are able to extend on in another article, or even bring up something you forgot first time round. This gives you the chance to also fix or alter anything within the first article or to add SEO keywords if you didn’t the first time round. You could then link them together creating more backlinks and the chance to bring more traffic. Re-reading through your old articles does not mean you have to write about the same or similar topic but might also spark you to a completely new idea.

3. Search the internet – The internet is a world within its self just waiting to be explored. Why not try typing in something completely random and see where you end up, or even try sites such as Stumbleupon to see if there is anything that interests you enough to write about. Sometimes we are searching for words to entice us; you could even just peruse the images. As they say a picture tells a thousand words.

4. Read through magazines or newspapers – Even those people who work for magazine companies, newspaper lines and such, all would encounter writers block once in their lifetime. They also would have had to work hard to come up with their articles, which is why they are a great place to find new topics. Someone may have written about something you do not agree with or you feel they didn’t write about it enough, perfect chance for you to write about it but in your own style. Magazines especially are always full of interesting articles, images and ideas just waiting for you to find them.

5. Watch the international news or channels – Just because it is not in your own back yard doesn’t mean that you can’t write about it or it is not important. In fact this is a great way to reach out to everyone not just the usual readers. Find a subject that is touching or interesting to everyone.

6. Research holidays destinations – Everyone likes to go on holidays and with the amount of people travelling there is always someone searching for something different than everyone else’s travelling ideas. Why not do some extensive research to a particular area and show them something that no one else does.

7. Research Thought provoking questions – Ever sit there and ponder over and over after reading a certain question? I sure do as do many others. Find a particular question that you find interesting enough to write about and elaborate on it.

8. Go through all your existing comments – Going through previous comments people have posted on your page, or comments you have posted elsewhere is a great way to spark an idea. Often they will be referring to something you have already written about but will speak of something similar as well. Why not write about that and if they are suited can link them together and create backlinks.

9. Watch television – The box, as some people call it. Television has almost everything normal, traditional, weird, scientific, funny anything at all almost. This is a great way to spark an idea, just by relaxing and watching T.V.

10. Go through your list – Most writers do or are recommended to have an ideas list. A list that you add to over time as you gain ideas, or look back at when you have writers block. Going through this list, will sometimes be enough for you to get past your block and start writing, other times it may not. Go through your current list and see if it sparks any ideas for new subjects to which you could either add onto your list or start writing about.

11. Write about something you have experienced – Everyone, writer or not has something they have learnt, experienced or been through. Why not write about that? Some readers enjoy the more personal articles rather than just the informative ones. You might find that once the article is written that you will get responses from others who have also been through the same thing.

12. Read other blogs – Reading other blogs is a fun way to get past writers block as you are not only reading new content that you might love, but you are subconsciously working on new ideas. Do not copy someone else’s article, but reading through might give you an idea for something of your own. Even if you don’t get an idea from reading blogs, you might enjoy reading other peoples perspective’s on things, leave comments leaving links to your own articles, or make new friends.

13. Go through the dictionary – The good old dictionary, is full of words that many of us have no idea what they mean. I think this is a great idea to come up with something new and fun whilst expanding your knowledge of words. I’m not saying to sit there and study it, but even flicking through might be enough.

14. Ask someone around you what they would enjoy reading about– At the end of the day most people write for others to read, so why not ask someone what they enjoy reading about. Some writers write simply because they enjoy it and are not bothered whether anyone else reads their article or not. If you write for other people, then why not head straight to the source and ask someone what they enjoy.

15. Don’t write at all. Take a break – Sometimes we just need a break. Get away from the computer; do not think about writing at all. You will find that after a day of doing something you find relaxing and enjoy you will be ready to write again fresh and most likely while you were relaxing an idea will come to you naturally rather than trying to strain for one. This is one of the best ways to get past writers block. Sometimes we just need to remind we are only people to; Don't burn yourself out.

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Thank you for all these tips! I use one you mention often, searching the internet. It almost always gives me a zillion ideas to write about. I came to your article from The Redhead Riter's Community on The BlogFrog.

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Hi, thanks for stopping by, glad you liked it the article. I originally wrote this article to remind myself so thought i would share it. I often suffer from writers block and just can't decided what to write about. Lol

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I agree. Amen. Also, you can write articles around the subject of other articles that you have written previously. I definitely like the walking. Walking is good for so many things. There is so much happening in our surroundings. We just need to take time to observe.